Free Comic Book Day coming May 4

VISTA  Customers at the Toy Wars comic book store in Vista can find lifelike busts of Batman, realistic Men in Black statues and the latest The Living Dead comics but they won’t find many other living souls.

Stephen Redford, who launched the store five months ago, said he’s hoping Free Comic Book Day on May 4 will boost the store’s visibility and help attract new customers.

Free Comic Book Day is the day when retailers and publishers give away millions of free comics at events aimed at animating fans and creating new ones. Now on its twelfth year, hundreds of book stores in the U.S. and other countries participate in the events.

“Almost 4.6 million will be given away that day, which is the most ever. It’s kind of like comic book Christmas,” Redford said.

People who visit participating stores on Free Comic Book Day will be able to choose from over 50 different titles, including special editions of Superman, The Walking Dead, Star Wars, The Smurfs, SpongeBob SquarePants and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

More than 40 publishers, including industry giants such as DC Comics and Marvel, sponsor Free Comic Book Day by providing the comics at a reduced price to book stores.

Rob Nazimowitz, owner of Invincible Ink in San Marcos, said his shop will also participate.

“It’s my biggest day of the year,” Nazimowitz said.

The comic book industry is experiencing a surge in recent years with blockbuster film franchises, including Batman and Iron Man, and popular TV shows, such as The Walking Dead. But keeping comic book stores open is not always easy with competition from Internet stores, Redford said.

“There aren’t a lot of stores like this, comic book stores seem to crop up and disappear a lot,” he said.

Redford started the business in the garage of his San Marcos home about 12 years ago selling DVDs and toys on websites such as eBay and Amazon.

Last year, he began leasing the space in the Sycamore Vista business park on La Mirada Drive. Behind the store, there is a 10,000-square-foot warehouse where two employees ship orders around the world.

He still makes most of his sales on the Internet, Redford said. Last month, he placed a red, Toy Wars sign outside the store that helped attract more customers but he is hoping that Free Comic Book Day will help increase the buzz.

Walking inside the store is like a slice of Comic-Con, the giant annual comic conference in San Diego. There are Star Wars collectible dolls – the kind you won’t find at your average toy store – that can sell for more than $100, The Lord of the Rings movie sword props and Batman filmstrips.

Redford, 43, who strikes a vague resemblance to the actor Robert Redford - a distant relative he’s never met, he says – has been Star Wars fan since he was a child. He wore cargo shorts and a black t-shirt featuring the helmet of a Stormtrooper in the front to work on Tuesday.